Let's continue our exploration of when and how CEOs involve
themselves in the buying process-often without salespeople
even knowing about it. (By the way, if you missed last month's
column, "Understanding How CEOs
Buy," it's a must-read-it will create a
foundation for what we're about to discuss.)

There are a number of classic scenarios for this pattern of
silent CEO involvement that stops the sales process in its tracks
for no apparent reason; I call this cycle the "perched pen
syndrome." For each of the scenarios, you must learn to send
the right messages to the CEO, the person who actually has the
power, whether it looks like he or she is involved or not. Last
month, we looked at two such scenarios; this month, we'll look
at one that belongs in a class by itself.

Situation No. 3: The potential exists for dramatically
increasing revenue, either by exploiting new markets or by
increasing the loyalty of existing customers. We'll look at new
revenue generation first.

Unexploited and
Under-Exploited Markets
If there is one area of opportunity that instantly earns
"top-of-mind" status for every selling and buying
organization's leader, it is the prospect of acquiring new
revenue from a new market. New-market revenue has a way of taking
on particularly high priority when the competition is fiercer than
usual, or (in a publicly owned company) when a board meeting is
somewhere on the horizon. Revenue from previously untapped markets
or market segments is rightly associated, among CEOs, with
increased brand recognition and competitive dominance-key
indicators that the person at the top is doing the job and doing it
well.

If you're a salesperson, you'll find that, when a big
deal in a new market is on the line, the CEO who sells is highly
likely to get involved in some way. He or she will often make a
subtle (or not-so-subtle) effort to reel the business in
personally. The CEO of the buying organization, on the other hand,
may assume the position of the "approver" of the
procurement transaction.if the sale represents the
establishment of a strategically important new partnership.

Count on it. Top officers will be quick to pick up the telephone
and make the "top-to-top" call when new revenue from new
markets is at stake. There is some good news for salespeople on
this score. The kind of call I'm talking about is such a common
occurrence, and CEOs are so used to playing both the selling and
buying roles, that salespeople who learn to sound like CEOs can
learn to move the process forward at the top level. The same goes
for salespeople who have access to high officials within their own
companies and can persuade them to make the appropriate calls.

In other words: If there is one idea a CEO hasn't
heard of before that seems to relate credibly to revenue generation
in new markets, that CEO will listen to the idea. And by the way,
if your product or service is so new that you don't have any
customers yet, the very best place to find an "early
adopter" in any buying organization is at the CEO level.

You must make your appeal in terms of cracking an
under-exploited market, and note that you (or someone else in your
organization) must make this appeal to the CEO. Why?
It's the CEO's responsibility to explore every single new
idea that has to do with untapped or under-tapped markets. It's
the CEO's responsibility to "look around corners" and
see market opportunities that no one else has identified yet. If
you address that responsibility, you will hear from the CEO or
someone he or she trusts, and you can trust that he or she will
carefully monitor the relationship from that point forward.

If you're enlisting the aid of your own CEO in reaching out
to the CEO of a target, make absolutely sure that he or she calls
the CEO with the offer, and not anyone else in the organization! If
the appeal is made to anybody else, your sales cycle will drag on
endlessly as all the "CYA" specialists gather all the
"facts" under the sun before making a
"recommendation" to some higher-up. Why jump through all
the hoops? Why waste weeks, months or even years on reference
accounts, testimonials, demos and financial extrapolations when you
or someone within your company can place a call to the top?

The Current Customer
Base
Another "hot button" has to do with current customers.
Winning and keeping their loyalty is extremely important to
CEOs.

The customer base is an asset CEOs will do virtually anything to
protect! Existing customers are the equivalent of the legendary
goose that has the ability to lay the golden egg. In this case, the
"golden egg" is the precious high-margin, add-on business
that comes like a reward from existing customers. It's often
said that it's nine times more costly to get a new customer
than it is to grow an existing one.

That's why CEOs on both sides of the buying equation are
likely to get involved-overtly or covertly-in any
initiative they believe will affect customer loyalty. CEOs will go
to great lengths to secure the loyalty of every existing customer;
initiatives range from expensive golf tournaments to
"touch-points" via questionnaires and flattering
interviews in company newsletters. Consider what might follow if
you or your company's CEO were to leave a phone message along
the following lines:

A word of caution: If what you sell has a chance of being
perceived by a CEO as adversely affecting customer loyalty,
don't be surprised if a mysterious pause in the buying process
ensues. The best way to get around this problem? Get the two
"approvers" (your CEO and the target company's CEO)
together for a face-to-face or telephone meeting to discuss the
matter. This won't guarantee success, of course, but it will
speed up your sales process and get you a clear answer.

Next month, we'll uncover other situations that bring CEOs
into the buying picture.